You start by adding the cards that you would like to trade to your organize.

After you do that I would recommend making a trade thread and scannign some of your cards in for people to see.

There is no "Protection" per se. I would trade with people with an established reputation as that can be your protection, no one wants to ruin their rep here.

I would look at value of cards when wondering whether or not to accept. It might be a good idea to pick up the Online price guide if you dont have it. You can also use completed e-bay sales for a general idea of cash value for a card.

yes and speaking from someone who has been here since July... Be prepared to send your stuff first and have the other user wait to retrieve it before they send your end. A little annoying but it makes sense

I can speak for many people on the board that they are trustworthy. If you click on my profile and see my trading feedback, everyone of those people are safe to trade with.

Step one - you have to enter what you have for trade into your organize and mark it for trade (there are tutorials on the help board if you need help, or just ask questions if you have any). It's admittedly a bit of a pain at first, but there are a couple big benefits - 1. It makes conducting the actual trade MUCH easier than trying to browse someone's bucket or text trade list and 2. It helps somewhat in keeping the scammers off the site (a scammer is not as likely to spend the time entering all the data).

Once you have that done, feel free to post a thread that you're interested in trading. Scans or a short list of some of your more desirable stuff will help generate interest. Also give people an idea of what you're looking for in return.

Like stera8 said, as a new trader, you're likely going to be asked to send first. BE SURE you check out your potential trade partner's feedback - it will give you an idea of how experienced the other trader is and their level of trustworthiness. All trades are done at your own risk, and there have been cases of 'good traders gone bad'...so you just need to make yourself as comfortable as possible.